They are not numerous enough to be a potent political bloc, but members of
Virginia’s gay and lesbian community have gotten the attention of Virginia’s
Democratic governor and lieutenant governor.

Gov. Mark R. Warner and Lt. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine showed up at a
legislative reception held Thursday night by "Equality Virginia,"
the new name of an umbrella advocacy organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender Virginians.

Republican Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore was invited but did not
attend.

Warner’s visit was the first by a Virginia governor in the five years
gay-rights activists have held a reception for legislators and elected
leaders.

A few years ago, the lobbyists for the organization had trouble getting
into the offices of legislators, said Pat Heck, of Norfolk, a vice president
of Equality Virginia. Now the reception is much friendlier, although the
organization still has trouble promoting its agenda, he said.

Last week, the Senate Courts of Justice committee defeated a bill that
would have added sexual orientation to the hate-crimes law.

The House of Delegates passed a bill that would prevent school boards from
restricting access to Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

The Boy Scouts prohibit avowed homosexuals from being Scout leaders, and
some school boards across the country have threatened to ban Scouts from
holding meetings in schools.

On the hate-crimes bill, Equality Virginia took comfort that one senator
had switched his vote, narrowing the margin against the bill.

On Tuesday, Del. Robert F. McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, chairman of the
House Courts of Justice Committee and a potential GOP candidate for attorney
general, said gays and lesbians might not qualify for a judgeship in Virginia
because they violate the state’s sodomy law.

Equality Virginia condemned McDonnell’s statement, saying it offered a
"classic example of how Virginia’s sodomy law is used to discriminate
against gays and lesbians."

If strictly interpreted, no one in the legislature might qualify, said
Joseph Price, president of the organization.

The group in the past has sought to repeal the sodomy statute. It is not
trying to do so this year because it is awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision
on the sodomy laws, Price said.

The main legislative focus this year is a bill that would allow private
employers to offer domestic-partner benefits to Virginia employees, if the
employer has a nationwide policy to do so. Virginia’s Bureau of Insurance
limits such benefits to children and spouses. Both United Air Lines and Kroger
Co. offer the benefits.

With the governor as the main attraction, Thursday’s event drew a crowd
of almost 300 people and filled three rooms in the basement of the
Commonwealth Park Suites Hotel. About 15 legislators, most from Northern
Virginia, dropped by.